HARARE Mayor Herbert Gomba has sensationally claimed that he has never at any point been involved in parcelling out land as reported in this publication.
In an email addressed to this publication Gomba went on to challenge the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) to prove that he was involved in the illegal selling of land along with his alleged accomplices.
“I am not guilty or if ZACC is investigating me let them prove I sold land and own land to the magnitude of your assumptions, I don’t get involved in land allocations and don’t want this that you are constantly publishing,” wrote Gomba.
Despite documents in our possession buttressing the fact that the mayor is part of a syndicate that illegally sells land, Gomba insists that the transactions of land sold by council are not done in his personal capacity.
He challenged any doubting Thomas to approach the city valuer where all processes and allocations of land sales are superintended.
“Please seek to get all applicants, processes approvals and allocations from the city valuer who has documents to that effect and know that not all land sold by council has been sold by me as an individual, it’s wrong to assume council sells land on road reservations yet all planning is approved by the ministry of local government physical planning department,” Gomba submitted.
The mayor also accused this publication of neglecting to give him the right to response – a claim which does not hold water.
“I have personally come across articles written by your newspaper or online publication making insinuations on me and without seeking for my side of the story and am disturbed by your penchant spreading of lies on my person ,” Gomba complained.
This publication can attest to the fact that, incessant calls were made to Gomba’s number on the dates in question with the view of seeking comment but all the calls went unanswered. Even after receiving is email, this publication called more than five times but the Mayor could not pick his mobile phone.
A simple check with his mobile services provider will prove this and dispel his outrageous claim.
Zim Morning Post has it on solid ground that the Mayor is working in cahoots with unregistered estate agents who lure potential buyers and charge them money to be ‘smuggled’ onto the housing waiting list before being sold the land.
Investigations made by this publication established that Gomba ‘s clique has a proxy, who is a woman named Mavis Madzivanzira who is the bait.
“Mavis is the one who shops for potential clients.
“She approached my cousin and offered him land worth $100 000 and he paid Mavis through her lawyers.
“Mavis went on to allocate him the land which they had not agreed on and the dispute rages on,” narrated our source.
The ‘loot’ is shared between Mavis and her principals Gomba and company.
Zim Morning Post is in possession of a copy of the agreement entered into by Mavis and the aggrieved buyer (name supplied).
Mavis’ s phone was not reachable at the time of writing.
The cartel is alleged to have illegally sold land to Ruth Makandiwa (for construction of a school) and N Richards wholesalers in Sunningdale.
To cover his tracks, Gomba stays in a rented house in Glen Norah B suburb yet he owns several houses in the capital.
He is believed to own stands at an illegal settlement known as Glen Norah D located opposite the popular ‘KwaFarai’ leisure centre.
Interestingly, a fortnight ago Gomba said the new constitution emasculated the council in controlling illegal structures since they cannot demolish structures without a court order.
Early this year, Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) opened an investigation against 23 MDC councillors and two National Assembly members implicated in a $60 million land scandal.
